Peter Gabriel

June 22, 1986|By Bill Henderson of The Sentinel Staff

Peter Gabriel, So (Geffen GHS 24088): The term ''art rock'' generally describes intellectual music rooted in repetitive rhythms and complex lyrics. As the original leader of Genesis, Peter Gabriel helped guide this music style into more accessible, funky channels.

Gabriel was responsible for such early, strange Genesis songs as ''I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe).'' After a few critically acclaimed -- but not best-selling -- albums, Gabriel departed, leaving Genesis in the hands of the more pop-oriented Phil Collins. Since then, Genesis and Collins have become household names.

On his own, Gabriel recorded some powerful and personal accounts of the human condition. His searing ''Biko'' (about South African black-consciousness leader Stephen Biko) crystallized the tensions of South Africa better than all the preaching on the more recent Sun City album.

In 1982, Gabriel released Security, one of the first all-digital rock albums. That landmark recording on compact disc proved just how powerful and real rock could sound.

His new release, So, is a continuation of the rhythmic, primitive sound he is known for, but it is also a not-necessarily-compromising attempt at being more commercial. Gabriel succeeds completely.

While there is no ''Biko'' here, the overall package is more accessible than his previous efforts. ''Red Rain'' is an apocalyptic view of love in the nuclear age set to a Brazilian beat. The '60s soul feel of the single ''Sledgehammer'' is designed for radio -- and could be one of the summer's best hits. This suggestive song cooks with sexuality.

Kate Bush's voice could make any song sound good and on ''Don't Give Up,'' her duet with Gabriel makes it soar. ''That Voice Again'' ends Side 1 on a pretty, melodic note, but the effect is ruined by a bad pressing that caused my needle to skip. An $8-$9 album shouldn't do that.

''In Your Eyes'' and ''Mercy Street'' on Side 2 are personal vignettes of love and passion that bask in warm washes of sound. That contrasts with the chilling ''We Do What We're Told,'' a 1984-ish nightmare about following the rules regardless of the consequences.